Tonalist Enjoys a Victory Cigar (Mile)

Tonalist was the front-runner when it mattered in the $500,000 Cigar Mile ran at the Aqueduct Racetrack on Saturday, November 28, when he hustled his way to the front of the line near the end of the race. It was a photo finish victory, pitting Tonalist versus stablemate Red Vine.

Through the first-three quarters of the race, Tonalist was in last place at a time of 1:13:05. Private Zone, who won the Cigar Mile in 2014, set the pace, but Tonalist took charge, running the mile in a victorious time of 1:37:14.

This was the first Cigar Mile trophy for Tonalist trainer Christophe Clement, who mentioned being a “bit worried” when he runs Tonalist. “The race was run in a funny way; they went so slow early on, which I didn’t think was great for us. But that’s what good horses do — they win and they overcome things.”

Tonalist’s Cigar Mile win not only netted Clement Stable its 100th victory of the season, but also an exacta, as they condition Red Vine.

Tonalist jockey John Velazquez knew exactly how to get Tonalist going at the right time, edging him on to make up 4-1/2 furlongs in the final quarter-mile in a time of :24.10 seconds. Velazquez mentioned he was “anxious a little bit when we passed the half-mile pole.”

Velazquez further explained his thought process:

“We were going so slow on the backstretch and I could see the horse on the lead keep trying to get back, throwing his head up … I was thinking that we were just walking with these horses here. I was close enough I didn’t worry about it, but when we got to the turn, they started to move away from me.”

“Now I wanted to do it little by little; I didn’t want to shake him up too much and then not get him going, so I got him little by little, where he was comfortable. By the five-sixteenths pole, he started moving so I said, ‘OK, now he’s moving.’ Another horse came to him by the quarter pole, I don’t know who that was, and he got into the bridle and started running. My job was trying to put him in the clear, run him in the clear. When I got him clear and hit him, he responded right away. The last sixteenth of a mile was really good, very exciting.”

The return on Tonalist was $6.40, $3.70, and $2.70. Red Vine returned $4.50 and $3.30. Third-place Matrooh paid $4.80. Private Zone and Full of Mine rounded out the top-five.

In 16 career starts, Tonalist improves to a record of 7-4-2, with career earnings of $3,647,000.